42-720: The Stalwarts were a faction of the Republican Party that existed briefly in the United States during Reconstruction and the Gilded Age during the 1870s and 1880s. Led by U.S. Senator Roscoe Conkling —also known as "Lord Roscoe"—Stalwarts were sometimes called Conklingites . Other notable Stalwarts included Benjamin Wade , Charles J. Folger , George C. Gorham , Chester A. Arthur , Thomas C. Platt , and Leonidas C. Houk . The faction favored Ulysses S. Grant ,
84-585: A gift book called The Homes of American Authors (1853). Curtis produced a number of volumes, composed of essays written for Putnam's and for Harper's Weekly , which came in rapid succession from his pen. The chief of these were the Potiphar Papers (1853), a satire on the fashionable society of the day; and Prue and I (1856), a pleasantly sentimental, fancifully tender and humorous study of life. In 1855 he married Anna Shaw, daughter of abolitionist Francis Shaw and sister of Robert Gould Shaw of
126-557: A bid for power within their own party in spite of their loss of power due to the rise in popularity of the Democratic Party, stubbornly supported the nomination of Ulysses S. Grant, who, if elected, would be serving a third, non-consecutive term. Bitter factionalism emerged, primarily between the Conkling and Blaine wings of the party. Chief allies of Blaine, William P. Frye and Eugene Hale , proved unable to thoroughly debate
168-598: A lecturer. He obtained a post on the New-York Tribune and started work on Nile Notes of a Howadji (1851), a journal of his travels on the Nile. He became a favorite in New York City society. He wrote for Putnam's Magazine which he helped George Palmer Putnam to found. He became an associate editor along with Parke Godwin and managing editor Charles Frederick Briggs ; the three also collaborated on
210-512: The Blaine faction sought a presidential term for James G. Blaine . Although Grant had previously pushed for some degree of civil service reform as president, he became disenchanted with Hayes' efforts to effectively dismantle the Stalwarts' patronage machines. Conkling, who previously was a close ally to Grant during the latter's presidency, once again became a right-hand man. The Stalwarts, in
252-915: The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act . This was signed by Arthur, who became President after the assassination of James A. Garfield , a Half-Breed. Stalwarts favored traditional machine politics . During the American Civil War and afterwards, congressional Radical Republicans feuded with Conservative Republicans who generally opposed efforts by Radical Republicans to rebuild the Southern U.S. under an economically mobile, free-market system and thrived politically on antipathy towards civil rights and black suffrage, and with Moderate Republicans , who were less enthusiastic than Radical Republicans about Black suffrage even though they otherwise embraced civil equality and
294-641: The general election in November that year . After the Republican victory in November 1880, President Garfield and Conkling fought bitterly and publicly over patronage in Conkling's home state of New York. Garfield, with assistance and advice from Blaine, won the battle, and Conkling and Platt resigned from the Senate, convinced that they would be easily re-elected by the New York legislature. However, Garfield
336-490: The presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes , supporting patronage and advocating on behalf of Southern blacks. The Maine Senator also frequently joined Stalwarts in voting against nominations of reformers by President Hayes who received the support of Democrats and staunch Half-Breed Republicans. Blaine applied the term to commend Conkling's faction as devoted loyalists to the Republican Party's principles. Stalwarts were
378-661: The National Civil Service Reform League, and in May he appeared for the last time in public, to repeat in New York an address on James Russell Lowell , which he had first delivered in Brooklyn on the 22nd of the preceding February, the anniversary of Lowell's birth. Curtis was one of the original members of the Board of Education for what would become New York City and advocated educational reforms. He
420-618: The New York Civil Service Reform Association. In 1884 he refused to support James G. Blaine as candidate for the presidency and thus broke with the Republican party, of which he had been a founder and leader. From that time he stood as the typical independent in politics. In 1892, he was elected to the American Philosophical Society . In April of that year, he delivered at Baltimore his eleventh annual address as president of
462-978: The New York Customs House, in addition to hiring thousands of Republicans for government jobs on the mere basis of partisan affiliation. Following an investigation of the Customs House in 1877, President Hayes and Secretary of the Treasury John Sherman, a Half-Breed, fired Arthur the following year. This decision was criticized even by congressional members of the Blaine faction , who began to distance themselves from Hayes. The Hayes administration subsequently emerged victorious in several intraparty battles, successfully nominating Edwin Atkins Merritt and Silas W. Burt to prominent positions in New York. Although Republican opposition towards Hayes considerably eroded in contrast to
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#1732772894606504-545: The Pendleton Act. In the 1884 United States presidential election , Conkling and Platt opposed the Republican Party renomination of their former ally Arthur. The nomination went to James G. Blaine, who Conkling continued loathing and refused to lend any support to in spite of the vice presidential selection going to Stalwart John A. Logan . When asked to campaign for the ticket, Conkling remarked: "I don't engage in criminal practice." In some states such as Wisconsin ,
546-514: The Port of New York was a powerful and prized political position, with the officeholder being able to control a central location of trade between the United States and other nations. New York had for many years hitherto been managed by the powerful patronage machine of Conkling, with opponents of the New York boss vying for control. President Hayes attempted to wrest control of the Port from Conkling to no avail, twice picking his own political acolytes to
588-497: The Stalwarts was drastic enough. Their program was the return to the radicalism of Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner , with no quarter shown to unrepentant rebels or their allies among the Northern Democrats or their new recruits from the muddle-headed, mushy-hearted “ liberals ” in the Republican fold. Their instrument was the machine, well oiled with patronage, turning out rewards for the regulars and punishments for
630-492: The United States, George Washington , warned of political factions in his famous farewell address from 1796. He warned of political parties generally, as according to Washington, political party loyalty when prioritized over duty to the nation and commitment to principles, was considered to be a major threat to the survival of a democratic constitutional republic : Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind (which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight),
672-422: The common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it [the formation and loyalty to partisan interests, over loyalty to principles or one's country]. George William Curtis George William Curtis (February 24, 1824 – August 31, 1892) was an American writer, reformer, public speaker, and political activist. He
714-455: The defeat of Roosevelt Sr.'s nomination, the Stalwarts and Blaine faction remained, at this point, informally united in persistent antipathy towards the president's reform advocacy. In 1880, Stalwarts led by Conkling, Logan, and Simon Cameron fiercely advocated nominating former president Ulysses S. Grant for a non-consecutive, third presidential term. The Half-Breeds advocated the nomination of Senator George F. Edmunds of Vermont , while
756-464: The eighteenth President of the United States (1868–1876), running for a third term in the 1880 United States presidential election . The designation of "Stalwart" to describe the faction was coined by James G. Blaine , who would later lead the rival "Half-Breed" faction during the Garfield administration. Blaine and his political organization formed an informal coalition with the Stalwarts during
798-706: The expansion of federal authority during the American Civil War . Over time, the power of the Radical Republicans disintegrated as members became disenchanted with the associated corruption during the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant . Many remaining Radicals, unwavering in their tactic of "waving the bloody shirt" and their defense of black civil rights, formed the Stalwarts, including but not limited to Roscoe Conkling, Frederick T. Frelinghuysen, John A. Logan, Zachariah Chandler, Benjamin Butler, William B. Allison, Benjamin Wade, and Oliver P. Morton. The remedy of
840-407: The famed 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry . Not long afterwards he became, through no fault of his own, deeply involved in debt owing to the failure of Putnam's Magazine ; and his sense of honour compelled him to spend the greater part of his earnings for many years on discharging the obligations for which he had become responsible, and from which he might have freed himself by legal process. In
882-560: The general election. For the vice presidential pick, Garfield at first proposed nominating Treasury of the Secretary John Sherman, a staunch Half-Breed, Moderate Republican, and supporter of civil service reform who Stalwarts loathed. In an appeal to party unity for both factions to be somewhat pleased, Conkling ally Chester "Chet" Arthur became Garfield's running mate, to the horror of Half-Breeds who pejoratively dubbed him as Conkling's "creature." The pair narrowly would win
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#1732772894606924-479: The infant George was two years old. At six, George was sent with his elder brother James Burrill Curtis to school in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts , where he remained for five years. In 1835, his father having remarried happily, the boys were brought home to Providence, where they stayed until around 1839, when they moved with their father to New York. Three years later, George and James fell in sympathy with
966-448: The intellectual foundations for the purpose of American education that would last another 30 years, and public schools, nearly 100 years. In 1863 he became the political editor of Harper's Weekly , which was highly influential in shaping public opinion. Curtis's writing was always clear and direct, displaying fairness of mind and good temper. He had high moral standards. From month to month, he contributed to Harper's Magazine , under
1008-684: The party. That man they found in General Grant—not the generous Grant of Appomattox, but the “tawdry Caesar” of the Enforcement Acts . The Stalwarts were mostly identifiable through their support of the presidency and re-election of Ulysses S. Grant . The 1880 Republican National Convention was the event in which the group participated most prominently. Of the Stalwarts present, most were from former Confederate states, with others being from New York, Illinois, and Pennsylvania, home to some prominent Republican leaders. Deemed as loyalists to
1050-536: The period just preceding the Civil War , other interests became subordinate to those of national concern. He was involved in the founding of the Republican Party , and made his first important speech on the questions of the day at Wesleyan University in 1856; he engaged actively in John C. Fremont 's presidential campaign of 1856 (the Republican campaign headquarters were located not far from his Staten Island home), and
1092-479: The policies pursued under the Grant administration, they stood in favor of hard money, high tariffs, waving the bloody shirt , and Southern Republicanism led by freedmen and carpetbaggers . Although commonly described as "conservative", Stalwarts were not uniformly bound on ideology aside from their advocacy of spoils system politics and African-American civil rights. Some members, including John A. Logan , broke with
1134-444: The political party into two political parties. The Ley de Lemas electoral system allows the voters to indicate on the ballot their preference for political factions within a political party. Political factions can represent voting blocs . Political factions require a weaker party discipline . Research indicates that factions can play an important role in moving their host party along the ideological spectrum. The first president of
1176-451: The post only to have the nominations defeated in the Senate by the New York senator, who successfully rallied Republicans to his side. Among Hayes' earlier nominations to the post of New York Collector of Customs was Theodore Roosevelt Sr. , the father of future president Theodore Roosevelt . The nomination of Roosevelt Sr. was defeated due to overwhelming Republican opposition in the U.S. Senate. The Stalwarts' opposition towards Roosevelt Sr.
1218-408: The recalcitrants, manned by reliable manipulators who knew which side their bread was buttered on and wanted no interference from that “man milliner Curtis ” or any other visionary “snivel service” reformers. The candidate must be no goody-goody like “Granny Hayes,” but a strong, red-blooded man who identified patriotism with Republicanism and would stand no nonsense from “traitors” to the country or to
1260-555: The shrewd Conkling, who "humiliated" Frye in a manner deemed "half sneer and half insult." A stalemate ensued between the Half-Breeds, Blaine faction, and the Stalwarts, so a compromise was struck by the Blaine faction and supporters of John Sherman to nominate James A. Garfield , with Chester A. Arthur , former Collector of the Port of New York , as his running mate , to satisfy the Stalwarts and thereby ensure their support for
1302-505: The spirit of the transcendental movement and joined the Brook Farm communal experiment from 1842 to 1843. After leaving Brook Farm, George spent two years in New York and Concord, Massachusetts to be close to Ralph Waldo Emerson . From 1846 to 1850, Curtis travelled through Europe, Egypt and Syria . His travels formed the basis for his first work as an author. He returned in 1850 and settled on Staten Island and began work as
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1344-428: The standard Republican Party position on the issue of protective tariffs and favored lower rates. Stalwarts were more cautious in policy than non-Stalwarts, preferring to avoid controversial policies popular with other Republicans, such as a higher protective tariff. This caution led the Stalwarts to support the nomination of Grant, a popular former president, at the 1880 Republican National Convention. The Collector of
1386-479: The term "stalwart" continued to be used in reference to the conservative element of those states' Republican parties in contrast to the progressive elements, well into the 1930s. Political factions A political faction is a group of people with a common political purpose, especially a subgroup of a political party that has interests or opinions different from the rest of the political party. Intragroup conflict between factions can lead to schism of
1428-483: The title of "The Easy Chair," brief essays on topics of social and literary interest, charming in style, touched with delicate humour and instinct with generous spirit. His service to the Republican party was such, that he was offered several nominations to office, and might have been sent as minister to England; but he refused all such offers, preferring to serve the country as editor and public speaker. In 1871 he
1470-450: The traditional "Old Guard" Republicans, who advocated for the civil rights of African-Americans and opposed Rutherford B. Hayes 's efforts to enact civil service reform. They were pitted against the " Half-Breeds " (classically liberal moderates) for control of the Republican Party. The most prominent issue between Stalwarts and Half-Breeds was patronage . The Half-Breeds worked to enact moderate civil service reform, and finally helped pass
1512-536: Was a founding member of the Unitarian Church of Staten Island (originally the Unitarian Church of the Redeemer), an author, editor of Putnam's Magazine , and columnist for Harper's Weekly . The Curtis and Shaw families counted Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry David Thoreau among their close associates. The Underground Railroad was in use during the 1850s to help runaway slaves , and it
1554-499: Was a member of and frequent speaker at the Unitarian Church on Staten Island (the congregation still meets in the same building). A high school not far from his home is named for him. He is also immortalized with an annual namesake oratorical prize awarded by Columbia College of Columbia University . He married Anna Shaw Curtis at the Unitarian Church of the Redeemer in 1856. Curtis, another New England transplant to Staten Island ,
1596-499: Was an abolitionist and supporter of civil rights for African Americans and Native Americans . He also advocated women's suffrage , civil service reform , and public education . George William Curtis was born in Providence, Rhode Island on February 24, 1824. His father was also named George Curtis. His mother, Mary Elizabeth (Burrill) Curtis, was the daughter of former United States Senator James Burrill Jr. and died when
1638-519: Was appointed, by President Ulysses S. Grant , to chair the commission on the reform of the civil service . Its report was the foundation of every effort since made for the purification and regulation of the service and for the destruction of political patronage. From that time Curtis was the leader in this reform, and its progress is mainly due to him. He was president of the National Civil Service Reform League and of
1680-427: Was joined by James G. Blaine , while Half-Breeds George F. Hoar and Stanley Matthews voted for the nomination. Conkling later managed to secure the position of New York Customs House boss for close machine ally and future president Chester A. Arthur . Arthur's tenure was marked with corruption and extensive preference of party loyalties over qualifications. He was known to have turned a blind eye to corruption in
1722-837: Was shot by a self-proclaimed "Stalwart of the Stalwarts", Charles J. Guiteau , on July 2, 1881, and Arthur became President of the United States upon Garfield's death on September 19, 1881. The shock of the assassination broke both Conkling's power and that of the Stalwarts, and Conkling's former protege Arthur helped to create civil service reforms in his term, in part because he felt that he had to follow up on and finish Garfield's work. The Pendleton Act passed with no Senate Republican opposition. Remaining Senate Stalwarts, including John A. Logan, William B. Allison, J. Donald Cameron, voted for passage. Only seven House Republicans (being Benjamin F. Marsh , James S. Robinson , Robert Smalls , William Robert Moore , Orlando Hubbs , John Robert Thomas , and George Washington Steele ) voted against passage of
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1764-558: Was soon recognized not only as an effective public speaker, but also as one of the ablest, most high-minded, and most trustworthy leaders of public opinion. In 1862 George William Curtis delivered his "Doctrine of Liberty" address to the Phi Beta Kappa Society at Harvard , on behalf of President Abraham Lincoln , who was encouraging support for the Emancipation Proclamation . In it, he laid out
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